Girl Meets Introvert
by TKDP
Summary: Riley is the most animated, exciting person anyone could know. She lives in a world surrounded by her friends, but what happens when she meets her opposite? When Riley encounters a quiet girl named Laura, she isn't sure exactly what to make of her. Can Riley break down Laura's barriers, or does she have a little something to learn about the power of introverts?


**Hey people! Yeah, I know this is a little random, but this idea has been floating around in my head. With the recent Introvert Recognition movement, I've been wondering if GMW will have an episode where extremely extroverted Riley will meet and learn to understand an introvert. Unfortunately, with all the love triangle drama, I'm beginning to doubt they're even going to have an episode on gay couples (very mainstream), let alone introverts. So, I decided to take the liberty of making my own fanfiction on the topic 'Girl Meets Introvert'. If this goes over well, I might consider writing 'Girl Meets Gay' or something, where Riley and Maya meet a gay person and learn about them, too. Warning: This story will seem a lot like a school lesson, so if you want a fanciful little romance story, I'm telling you: this ain't it. With all that said, I want you all to know I'm a self-proclaimed introvert who has read countless online studies on the nature of introvertism and what it truly means to be an introvert, so I think I'm qualified to write this (one of the reasons I'm unsure about writing Girl Meets Gay, because I'm NOT gay (at least, I don't think I am, but how can I be sure at this point in life) and have not studied nearly as intensely about gay people, and I wouldn't want to insult gay people by writing a faulty fanfiction on a topic I don't fully understand). Honestly, the reason I write is because I'm an introvert, introverts being powered by alone time (whereas extroverts are powered from being around people: an example being Riley, Maya, Lucas, Farkle, and Smackle always being together, though I suspect Smackle might be a little introverted, and MAYBE Farkle too). BTW, this story in no way reflects my opinion on Rucas vs Lucaya, I'm simply writing about what's happened so far in the series. Now that you know a little about me, let's get on to Girl Meets Introvert!**

It was just another day at Abigail Adams High School. The students were mulling about before class would officially start; Mr. Matthews was preparing the day's lesson; Thor was flirting with his girlfriends' Nikki and Francesca; and of course, everyone's favorite group of six was hanging out in front of 'the hole'.

"Hey Riley," said Lucas Friar, coming over to his newfound girlfriend, Riley Matthews. After visiting the ski lodge Mr. Matthews oh-so despised, he had finally admitted to the girl he liked that he, well, _liked_ her. "I was wondering how you want our relationship to, you know, _show_ at school."

"Ah Lucas," purred Riley, in her usual bubbly voice. "It's just like you to want to ask me how I want…wait, _what_?!"

"Our relationship to show," finished Lucas. "I mean, I doubt we'll be the next Yarby, but we can be the _only_ Rucas."

"Yeah…Yogi and Darby sure have something, don't they?" murmured Riley, trying to dodge around the conversation. He wanted to show their love… _publicly_? Like, holding hands between classes or…more? "Could you excuse me for a minute?"

"Of course," said Lucas.

Riley grabbed Maya's shoulder. "Maya! What do I do?!"

"You tell Huckleberry what you want, what else?" asked Maya Hart, Riley's best friend.

"I don't even know what to say! What if _he_ wants us to become like those guys!?" Riley gestured to the two people she saw making out back when she spent her days in the hole.

Maya burst into laughter. "Riles, he'll be fine with whatever you're comfortable with. Trust me, Lucas is a good guy."

Riley paused for a moment, thinking to herself, before she suddenly proclaimed. "Bay window!"

"Oh good grief…" muttered Maya, face-palming. Why couldn't Riley just be straight forward sometimes?!

Riley grabbed Maya's arm and dragged her up the stairs towards the second level of Abigail Adam's, to the bay window the cheerleaders had proclaimed as theirs. Once they'd gotten a little respect from the seniors, however, they were permitted to sit by the window when it wasn't in use. Yeah…it was a flawed system, but what else did they expect?

To their surprise, there was a girl sitting there. She had long blonde hair, green eyes, and pale skin with freckles. A pair of glasses was perched on her nose, slanted slightly from her bending over a book. They didn't know who she was, or why she was sitting in the bay window. It was _their_ window, right? Well, theirs and the seniors. But still, what was she doing?

"Um…hello," Riley said, slowly.

The girl looked up from her book. Apparently she'd been reading 'The Call of the Wild' before the girls interrupted her. She looked a little annoyed, but tried to hide it with an incredibly forced smile. "Hello?"

"Whatcha…doing there?" asked Maya.

"Reading, what's it look like?" responded the girl. Maya and Riley were a little surprised by the girl's mildly harsh words, and even the girl seemed a little surprised. "Uh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Riley studied the girl with curiosity, she wasn't much like anyone she'd ever met. The girl seemed to put a lot of thought into her words, even though she didn't say much. Riley also noticed that she didn't open with 'hi, my name is…' as most people did. In fact, she really looked like she just wanted to be left alone to read. "Um, who are you?"

"I'm Laura," the girl said, holding out her hand awkwardly. Maya took her hand and shook it, a very confused look on her face. Who shook hands anymore?!

"Well hey Laura!" said Riley. Riley realized she wasn't coming off as very friendly, and maybe Laura would stop looking so…shy, if she acted like her normal, perky self. "I'm Riley, and this is my best friend Maya!"

Laura cracked a tiny smile. "I see. Well, I'm reading this book so…"

"I know," Riley interrupted. "It's too bad you have to read before school starts, are your friends late or something?"

"Actually," Laura began, quietly. "I only have a few friends, and they're not in my classes. They're on the other side of the school. It's okay though, they're very loud sometimes and can be pretty overwhelm-"

"That sounds cool!" Maya broke in. "They must be some fun people. It's too bad they aren't around, do you want to hang out with us?"

Riley and Maya stared at her hopefully, they didn't want her to be all alone. Riley personally couldn't imagine how awful it must be to start every day away from your friends.

"Um…well…I was kind of hoping to finish this book," Laura said, quietly. "I-I have a lot of books on my reading list and want to finish them soon…sorry."

Riley and Maya's eyes widened in disbelief. No one had ever rejected their offer to hang out, especially not someone who was already all by themselves. Laura gave them a sorry look, she didn't appear to want to offend them but also seemed to want her alone time, for whatever reason.

Riley and Maya slowly walked away from the bay window. Lucas approached them, a grin on his face. "So, did you talk it over-"

"Not now, Ranger Rick," said Maya. "We've got a new situation."

Lucas sighed. "I guess I can't expect you to finish _my_ conversation then."

Riley sighed and patted Lucas's shoulder. "I don't think I'm ready to answer that question yet. But right now, there's a girl who's all alone and I want to help her."

"Yeah, it's never fun to be alone," said Maya. "Take my word for it."

"Fiiiine," groaned Zay. "Dang it, I really wanted to hear how this would end!"

"You were listening?!" gasped Riley.

"Uh, yeah," said Farkle. "We always listen to your drama. It's like our own personal reality-TV show!"

"Come on," groaned Maya, grabbing Farkle and Lucas's sleeves simultaneously and dragging them into Mr. Matthews's room, while Riley lead Zay and Smackle with her.

"What's up, guys?" asked Corey Matthews, once the gang had entered.

"Do you know the girl out there?" asked Maya, pointing out the door.

"Always get right to the point, don't you Maya?" asked Mr. Matthews, with a chuckle. Corey stuck his head out the door, noticed the girl in question, and turned back to them with a smile on his face. "I sure do, she's in this class."

"She is?!" said Riley, in disbelief. "How didn't I notice her?!"

"She sits in the back of the class and doesn't talk too much," said Corey. "She always has a ton of questions for me after class, though."

"She does?" asked Maya. "She didn't really strike me as being a talker."

"She isn't," said Corey, with a smirk. "But she actually thinks a lot about the topics, from what I've gained. She always develops many intelligent questions.

"Really?" asked Lucas. He didn't know the girl, but he was beginning to get a depiction of her through Riley and Maya's words.

"Yup," said Corey. "And believe it or not, she always listens to the answers."

"How?!" asked Maya. "I usually just tune you out."

Corey rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe in the future you should pay more attention, the way she does."

The group walked out of the room, and Corey's gaze followed them. Suddenly, he had a new idea for a lesson…

"This is crazy," said Riley. "How's it possible someone wouldn't want to take center stage?! I mean, sitting in the back with no friends…it seems awful!"

"She's probably very lonely," said Farkle. "Maybe during lunch we could reach out to her."

"Good idea," said Zay.

At that moment, the bell rang and Riley, Maya, Lucas, Farkle, Smackle, and Zay had to file into Corey Matthews's history class. This time, they noticed the quiet footsteps of a quiet girl behind them.

Xxx

"Rosa Parks!" announced Mr. Matthews.

"What about her?" asked Marley, sarcastically. "We all learned about her in fourth grade."

"Fine," hissed Corey, in annoyance. "Then maybe you'd like to tell the class why she's so important."

"Rosa Parks," said Marley. "An African-American woman living in America during the time of 'separate but equal' racial segregation. In 1955, she sat in the first row of the 'Colored' section of a public bus, and was told to move so a White person could take her seat. She refused, and was sent to jail."

"But that's just the tip of the ice berg," said Corey.

"W-what?" asked Marley. She was certain she'd been right! After all, this lesson in particular was drilled into the minds of students during almost every history class at some point.

"You know what she _did_ , but do you know why it had such an impact?" asked Corey.

"She started a chain of events that lead to a bus boycott that lasted three-hundred and eighty-one days?" asked Marley, though she could already tell from the expression on Mr. Matthews's face she was wrong.

"Riley," he suddenly said, pointing at his daughter. "Describe Rosa Parks for me."

"Why?" asked Riley. "I don't know who she was as a person."

"Try," said Corey. "From what you've learned about Rosa Parks, describe who you think she was."

"She's a powerful woman," said Riley. "Brave, bold, determined."

"You're partially correct," said Corey.

"What?" asked Riley. "How can I be 'partially' correct?"

"You described Rosa Parks _in that moment_ ," said Corey. "But that's not who she was. Years after her death in two-thousand five, people came forth and described her as 'soft-spoken, sweet, and small in stature'. In fact, they even said she was 'timid and shy, but with the courage of a lion'."

"How's that possible?" asked Maya. "Timid, shy, and courageous don't exactly go together."

Corey smirked. "I'm glad you mention that Maya. You're right, the words really don't go together. This is because, in two-thousand five, the person Rosa Parks was being described as wasn't recognized. In fact, the person she was, around the time when she was alive, was diagnosed as a mental disorder. Rosa Parks, students, was an introvert."

"Introvert?" asked Riley. "What's that mean?"

"An introvert is someone who prefers to be in their own head opposed to being surrounded by people. Someone who prefers being around other people opposed to the solitude of their own thoughts is called an extrovert," responded Corey.

"How's that even possible?" asked Lucas.

"Farkle time, sir?" asked Farkle.

"Sure, Farkle," said Corey.

"Being an introvert has a lot to do with the way your brain works," said Farkle. "Studies show an introvert has a longer neuro passageway when they're developing a thought, which is why introverts don't talk as much. They often take a while to develop a full idea into a statement while extroverts talk right through the conversation. Extroverts have a much shorter passageway from mind to speech, so that's why extroverts are considered more outgoing."

"Very good, Farkle," said Corey. Corey looked towards Laura, as though he was inviting her to join in, but she just gave him a tiny smile and shuffled her books. "That's why it's not appropriate to call Rosa Parks 'shy and timid'. Shy people might not have the courage to stand up to a person of higher authority, or the police. An introvert, however, develops a thought, and depending on how powerful, acts upon it. Rosa Parks had the more complex thought of how to handle her segregation, and didn't hesitate to act on it."

"Dad, does being an introvert have anything to do with avoiding people?" asked Riley.

"Actually, yes," said Corey. "It's hard to explain, but the way people are often measured as introverts or extroverts is how they react after a full day. After being around many people, engaging in many conversations, partying, or handling group activities, an extrovert will be excited and ready to tell everyone about their day, while an introvert might be drained and want to take an hour or so to be by themselves. Often this leads introverts to avoid small talk, which to them is much more draining than a genuine, thoughtful conversation, but also leads them to avoid meeting new people; a situation where small talk is necessary."

"Huh…" said Riley.

"Now, Marley," said Corey. "Do you know why it was so important that Rosa Parks took a stand opposed to, say, Martin Luther King Jr.?"

"I think so," said Marley, and for once the slightest bit of respect for Mr. Matthews showed up in Marley's expression. "If someone bold and empowering like Martin Luther King Jr. took a stand, it would excite crowds but probably wouldn't encourage the many people who aren't so brave to take a stand. When a quiet, reserved woman takes a stand, it can inspire many people to do the same. I guess they would just relate to her more, since she wasn't a big, powerful authority figure."

"That's exactly right," said Corey. "By being a more quiet and meek person, Rosa Parks showed that anyone can take a stand, even the most unexpected of individuals."

At that moment, the bell rang for second period. All the students filed out of the classroom except the group of six, and Laura who was putting her books in her bag.

"You were trying to make a point, weren't you Matthews?" asked Maya.

"When am I not?" asked Corey, with a fake, resigned sigh.

Riley smiled. "I think I know what we have to do."

"Me too," said Farkle. "Second period!"

"That's not what I meant," said Riley, rolling her eyes. "Lunch. We're talking to Laura, _her_ way."

The six friends left, leaving just Laura and Corey in the room together. "What did you think of the lesson, Laura?" asked Corey.

"Very inspiring, Mr. Matthews," said Laura, with a grin.

"I suppose you need to get to second period," said Corey.

"I do," said Laura, holding out a hand to Corey.

Corey shook her hand, and gave her a meaningful look. "Listen, I know my daughter can be a bit…overwhelming, but give her a chance. She just might surprise you."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Matthews," said Laura. It was during these one-on-one moments that Laura reflected the utmost of confidence.

"One more thing," added Corey. "I was wondering why you give handshakes. Most people prefer high-fives these days."

"I just think it's more genuine, sir," said Laura, with a tiny smirk.

"Whatever you say, Laura," said Corey. "By the way, if you love reading so much, you should try writing some time. I've been told introverts excel at it."

Xxx

During lunch, Riley, Maya, Farkle, Smackle, Lucas, and Zay regrouped to chat.

"There she is," said Riley, pointing to a table. Laura was sitting, reading as she ate, at a table with very few people. However, she didn't appear to be lonely, or to desire another person's conversation. "Follow my lead."

"What're we gonna do?" asked Zay.

"Well, during study hall Maya and I looked up some things about introverts, and I was surprised at what we found," said Riley. "Though, I think I've finally found out how Laura would like to be talked to."

"Whatever you say, Riley," said Lucas.

The group of six walked over to Laura's table and sat down. However, they didn't sit directly next to her, but put a seat in between them and her. They also didn't immediately speak, but gave her some time to take note of their presence and fully process how she was going to react.

"Hi, Laura," said Riley. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I was wondering…what're you reading about?"

"Oh, it's this amazing book called 'The Call of the Wild'," said Laura.

"Tell me about it," said Riley.

"Where do I begin?!" asked Laura, enthusiastically. The rest of the group's mouths dropped open in shock. "The book takes place in the Yukon, centering around a dog named Buck. He was kidnapped from his home and forced to become a sled dog, which were in high demand in the eighteen-nineties, when the book took place. At first, he had a hard time adjusting to the harsh wilderness and horrible treatment of his various owners, but over time…"

For the rest of the lunch period, Laura delved into an animated conversation about the book. When she finished talking, there was only fifteen minutes left of lunch! For the next ten minutes, Riley told Laura about some books she'd read and which ones she'd recommend reading. Laura seemed all too thrilled to talk about a subject she had such interest in; not many people were interested in talking about books or other private activities.

"Hey, Laura?" asked Riley, in the last five minutes of lunch. "I heard that introverts didn't like small talk, but could get into long, exciting conversations about a topic they enjoy. Is that true?" Riley smiled, and Laura knew exactly where she was going with this.

"It is," said Laura. "They also tend to enjoy having moments to collect their thoughts, and not talking to people that constantly talk."

"Introverts like their alone time," said Riley. "But they also like having friends they can talk to about what interests them." Riley paused for a while, trying out the introvert's way of thought-collecting. She turned to Laura with a grin. "I want to be your friend, Laura. I want to talk to you, and experience the in-depth conversations introverts are known for. We can pause whenever you want."

Laura started to laugh, and soon the group of six were all smiling. "I'd like that too, Riley. I'd like to have a friend that could push me out of my comfort zone."

"You know, they say introverts target extroverts as friends," added Maya. "Extroverts like to have introverts around to help them chill out, and introverts like having extroverts to help them have fun at outings or parties…even if they have to leave after twenty minutes."

"How did you know that?!" asked Zay.

"I read it!" announced Maya.

"You _read_ something?!" gasped Lucas.

"Yup!" cried Maya. "Me knows how to read!"

Laura burst into laughter again. "Well, if you're willing to put up with that, I'd love to be your friend."

Xxx

"So," Lucas asked Riley at the end of the school day. "Do you have an answer to my question?"

"You know, Lucas?" asked Riley. "I don't. I think I might need some more time to think about it."

Lucas smiled, knowing where she must've gotten that from.

"But you know, Lucas," said Riley. "What I've learned from today is, if you stop rushing through the days and take a moment to appreciate the quiet moments, you can learn something new."

Riley took Lucas's hand and gazed into his eyes. "You know, your eyes have a little gold in them."

 **There you have it, folks! I hope you enjoyed, though I hope this didn't bore you too much! XD! I know it ended up sounding more like a research paper on introverts, but I just couldn't resist writing this. I credit the book I'm currently reading: 'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking' as the source of my information on Rosa Parks, and countless internet searches on the rest of the introvert stuff. If you have more questions on the nature of introverts, I encourage you to research the topic, or you can PM me with questions, I'll probably have the answers! XD! It's a great way to start a conversation, and as some of you know, introverts express themselves much better through writing (stories, PMs, emails, but not texts. Texts are too short and expect almost instant replies). Bye for now, I hope to visit the Girl Meets World archive again soon!**


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